细节 SUDHIR PATWARDHAN (B. 1949)Of Paintingsigned, titled, dated and inscribed Sudhir Patwardhan / Of Painting 1997 / Acrylic (on the reverse)acrylic and cloth on canvas59 3/4 x 33 in. (151.8 x 83.8 cm.)Painted in 1997 来源 Vadehra Art Gallery, New DelhiGallery 7, MumbaiAcquired from the above by the present owner, 2000 出版 Sudhir Patwardhan, Paintings and Drawings, exhibition catalogue, New Delhi, 1999 (illustrated, unpaginated) 展览 Thane, The Design Center, Sudhir Patwardhan, Paintings and Drawings, 15-26 January 1999Mumbai, Jehangir Art Gallery, Sudhir Patwardhan, Paintings and Drawings, 28 January - 3 February, 1999New Delhi, Vadehra Art Gallery, Sudhir Patwardhan, Paintings and Drawings, 10-22 February 1999拍品来源详情: “When I started on the road to becoming an artist, there was no doubt in my mind as to what art was about. It was about people. This simple belief was strengthened by the unbroken tradition of figurative painting in contemporary Indian art. So the human figure has, inevitably, been my subject from the beginning” (Artist statement, R. Hoskote, The Complicit Observer, Mumbai, 2009, p. 189). A self-taught artist, Sudhir Patwardhan began to paint after moving to Bombay in the mid-1970s. The cosmopolitan city offered new opportunities to Patwardhan, as he began to participate in its emerging leftist subculture. His paintings frequently reflect his politics, his affinity with the working classes and his aspirations of being “a painter of people” (Artist statement, ‘Near and Far’, Sudhir Patwardhan, Paris, 1986, unpaginated). Patwardhan has long been known for his paintings of urban life, populated with bustling crowds, dense landscapes and dynamic narratives. However, his compositions underwent a shift in the 1990s, perhaps prompted by the riots and sectarian violence that besieged Bombay during this time. Much of his work from this period is an introspection on middle class domestic life and private questions of the self. Going beyond documenting city scenes, Patwardhan began to reflect on his own struggles and those of his subjects, allowing them to permeate his compositions and compel the viewer to empathize with their predicaments. Nevertheless, his figures are not depicted as victims, but rather as resolute, dignified and imbued with a sense of everyday heroism. They are not diminished but rather strengthened by adverse conditions. The present lot, titled Of Painting, explores the duality of despair and resilience through the figure of an artist. Here, the artist is seated with his back to the viewer, looking towards the empty, grey surface of what may be an unresolved canvas. Replacing the dense buildings and streets that usually form the backdrop for his narrative paintings, this scene is anchored to the non-descript interiors of a studio. In contrast to the obscured face and still body of the artist, the viewer is confronted by four distraught faces that line the upper edge of the composition. Each face is rendered in a unique painterly style but shares the same open-mouthed expression of anguish, perhaps iterations of a portrait the artist is working out. Underneath the grid of faces, a figure stands with his arms stretched upwards. Speaking about this painting, Patwardhan explained, "This is a playful painting about painting. An artist sits in front of a canvas, thinking of different ways of making one. [There] is a reference to [Pablo] Picasso's acrobats, while the four screaming heads allude to [Jasper] John's Targets - two masters who rethought ways of making paintings" (In conversation with the artist, July 2022). ---